Recommendations of the Editorial team
A contribution from the US American ROLLING STONE from the “RS Recommends” series.
Harrison Ford’s first visit to Scotland may have been for the Glenmorangie advertising campaign in 2025 – but his passion for Scotch goes back much further. A fitting drink for a man who has played such tough characters as Indiana Jones and Han Solo, not to mention several US presidents. And Scottish culture apparently didn’t leave Ford indifferent for long: you can see him in the Sunset Tower in Los Angeles, wearing a tartan kilt, holding a glass of Glenmorangie x Harrison Ford Limited Edition Whiskey in his hand.
“Aside from the fact that we were all huge fans, Harrison met a lot of our criteria in many ways. We were looking for someone with global recognition because we are a global brand,” explains Caspar MacRae, President and CEO of Glenmorangie. “There are very few people who enjoy the global reputation that Harrison has – across generations. The second point was that we knew: Harrison is truly a true lover of single malt Scotch whiskey.”
Even before the whiskey collaboration, Ford shot a twelve-part campaign for the brand – directed by fellow actor Joel Edgerton. Ford plays himself traveling to Scotland to shoot, but makes it clear from the start that he doesn’t want to be an action hero posing on a mountain. He just wants to sit by the fire and drink scotch. That tongue-in-cheek approach attracted Ford, as did the prospect of working with Edgerton.
“He was fun. I have enormous respect for him – as an actor and as a director,” Ford says of Edgerton. “We had a lot of freedom. And being the guys that we are, we exploited that a bit. But I think there’s a joy and a humility to the material. And the people in it, the people who work in the distillery – they’re such interesting personalities. That’s what it’s really about in the end.”
The collaboration, announced on May 4th – Star Wars Day, a happy coincidence according to MacRae – only really took shape when Ford arrived in Scotland. Together with Dr. Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, worked on a flavor profile that suited him. “It stands out from the other Glenmorangie whiskeys because it has a little more bite than some of them. And perhaps other flavors that particularly appeal to my palate,” says Ford.
“I sent him samples here in the United States,” says Lumsden, who had been working on a prototype that already had the bite he was looking for. But Ford wanted even more. “I think he wanted to take it a step further. But I negotiated with him and said, ‘I want this to be appealing not only to you, Harrison, but also to people who already love Glenmorangie.’ So we found a compromise.”
Ford’s role in development
Ford is modest about his own part in the development: “Dr. Bill has a great reputation and a long history in the field. So there were a lot of things that I had to learn to fully understand what I was doing. That was also a very interesting part of the whole experience.”
When asked which of his movie characters he would most like to have a drink with, Ford pauses. “I would probably say John Book, the character from Witness.” I think he would appreciate a good dram. For this role, I researched with the head of the Philadelphia homicide unit, and we actually drank scotch in police bars every now and then. So I know he would like it.”
